Why Do Cats Meow

Although they sleep 16 hours a day and then spend one third of the rest of the day cleaning themselves, most of the cats also like to “talk” to people. Sometimes they meow just to get your attention, especially when they live alone with people with no cat company. Most of the cats communication is done by “body talk” (through their ears and tail movement). As a matter of fact these movements make up their main way to communicate with us which probably leaves them frustrated most of the time because we can’t understand them.

Grown-up cats don’t communicate among themselves by meowing, except in cases of fight for territory or during the mating season and in these cases the sounds they make are quite different from their meowing when they communicate to people.

Not all cats meow equally loud or equally frequent. There are differences. Just as there are differences (and a big ones) between cats personalities. Pretty much like people. Some, people talk a lot, while others are not that “talkative”, some people talk loud, some whisper. Well, cats are no different. However, when it comes to cat breeds, Siamese cats like to talk, while Persian like to keep it for themselves 😉

When it comes to regular house cats we learned to differentiate between several reasonably loud messages: “Feed me”, “Take me out” , “Open the door”, “Clean up the litter” and “Cuddle me”. In addition there are quite a few “subtle” meows such as “I waited for a long time for you to come and open the door and let me out” which is the usual rant we hear from our cat Lolly.

Our loudest cat is Tito, he insists that he’s taken out, every day, for a walk. And yes, we do take our Tito the cat out on a leash, because we are afraid that he would run into the busy street and get killed, he is just too incautious and playful to watch out for cars. So, every afternoon, he meows very loud letting us know that the time has come for his regular daily walk outdoors.

Our three-legged cat, Mr. Alphons (his leg was amputated two years ago because he had sarcoma cancer), meows in a very particular way when he demands to be cuddled. However, if he meows in front of the fridge, it means that he wants some cheese.

Here is how that sounds:

Hey, Mr. Alphons!

Don’t Let Your Cat Train You

I heard a lot of stories about cats meowing and waking their people up at 3AM or 5AM. Although we live with eight cats, we don’t have that problem. At least not any more. At the beginning, of course, our cats tried to wake us up meowing and nibbling our noses or toes, but we just decided not to react. We did not pay any attention to their “demands” 🙂

Some of the cats were persistent and early waking would continue up to a month or even longer, but we did it. We simply did not react and their attempt to train us – failed.

Sometimes it’s hard. You want to meet their demands and get up at 5AM and give them food. Because, when they eat they’re silent. But, that’s not good because cats will then know that they can wrap you around their paws and they will just continue waking you up early in the morning.

Whatever you do, don’t sprinkle them with water or yell at them, as Kristine Lacost from Petful says: Please, don’t yell at you cat meowing in her article 7 Reasons Your Cat May Be Meowing Constantly. Especially, don’t beat them. It is wrong for many reasons and, on the top of it, they don’t understand punishment so the situation will get even worse. So, ignoring the cats trying to wake you up in the early morning will probably be hard, cat(s) may get even louder, but it is important endure until they just quit doing it.

Could be a health problem

Although cats will usually try to hide when they are ill, it may happen also that they will meow. So, health issues could be one of the reason for meowing. Deaf cats meow the most, older cats with Alzheimer’s (yes, cats can get Alzheimer’s too) or cats who suffered a stress due to some drastic change in yours and theirs life will also meow a lot. In these cases it is important to notice what was is it that changed and could cause a stress in a cat.

If your cat recently started to meow more frequently and more persistently than she usually does and you ruled out the stress related to change, then it may be a good idea to pay visit a vet.